The comments came during a meeting of the Treasury select committee in which HMRC chairman Sir David Varney was questioned over the deal.

The compensation was imposed following failures of the tax credits system set up by EDS. It was arranged so that £24 million of the £71 million payment was dependent on the computer company securing future government contracts.

and it gets better. An article in Computer Weekly identifies the possibility that the amount of the compensation agreed was after taking into account the tax saved from the compensation charge in their accounts.

And of course it is all predicated apparently on EDS receiving a certain value of future contracts! If they don't, and the compensation payments thus do not reach the agreed level, then apparently HMRC might reconsider taking legal action against EDS.